The invention disclosed herein pertains to apparatus for filling vessels such as bottles with liquid. Hereafter, the term "bottles" will be used as a generic designation for any kind of vessel that can be filled with the apparatus.
In preexisting counterpressure bottle filling units such as is described in the German patent DE-OS 1,943,503, the liquid, usually a carbonated beverage, is held in a tank and a gas such as pressurized carbon dioxide occupies the space above the level of the liquid in the tank. The tank is usually toroidal in configuration. A plurality of bottle filler units are mounted in a circular pattern about the tank. The mouths of bottles that are to be filled are pressed against and sealed to a liquid outlet of the filler unit. The customary gas return tube is supported above the filter unit outlet or bore on a crossbar. A fill height probe or sensor extends into the bottle mouth and an electrical lead from the probe is led out of the filler unit laterally of the crossbar. The crossbar causes a considerable impediment to the flow of liquid to the bottle, thereby extending the time for filling a bottle and limiting productivity of the filling machine.
In the existing filler units, the electrical connection to the fill height probe lies below the liquid-gas storage tank in a region where it can be exposed to detrimental liquid leakage or spillage and to the impact by fragments of broken bottles, furthermore, the bottle pressurizing gas valve and the return gas valve and liquid valve setting stem are all in the region of the crossbar and, therefore, in the region underneath the storage tank. This not only exposes the electrical component to liquid but also accounts for the valves to be troublesome to access and difficult to clean. Because of the arrangement of the components of preexisting filler units, little space is available for valves in addition to the customary carbon dioxide gas purging valves. In some filler unit applications use of additional valves could be advantageous, for example, to control the flow of sterilizing steam or nonoxidizing gas such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen into the bottles. Besides, in preexisting filler units the liquid must often follow a devious path from the supply tank to the bottle. This results in increased resistance to liquid flow and a corresponding reduction in productivity.